For many years, I worked as a Program Coordinator and Family Caregiving Consultant at the Alzheimer's Association and Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center. During that time I wrote a monthly newsletter for families taking care of loved ones with progressive incurable memory loss and dementia. Those articles are now a book, and this blog was created to share it (and any new articles I write) with all of you.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

I rarely post on this blog anymore and I once made a vow not to turn it into something political. . . but I've been pushed over the edge.

I used to work in the field of senior services, helping people who were taking care of a family member with dementia. I heard MANY MANY stories of people inches away from bankruptcy. One major medical emergency sent people over the edge -- and most of these were people WITH health insurance. Medical emergency is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in this country. THIS is the issue I am most able to gather the anger and courage and strength to stand up for: affordable healthcare for all and preservation (if not expansion) of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I'm sharing the next part of this post from a friend because it is essential that people understand what is going down if we don't fight for it. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!

In case you're not aware of what a Health Savings Account (HSA) is or how it works, please read:

When Trump or Paul Ryan say they want to replace the ACA with "Health Savings Accounts" (HSAs), they are saying they want to replace Obamacare or Medicare or Medicaid with YOU paying for your healthcare. That means YOU pay for chemotherapy... YOU pay for all surgeries and hospitalization... YOU pay for all your family's doctor visits, urgent care, ER visits, and prescription drugs out-of-pocket.

A Health Savings Account is just a tax-free way for you to save up money to pay for your own medical bills. So if you are paying off college loans, or saving for a house down-payment, or simply living paycheck to paycheck, guess what -- a Health Savings Account does you no good, because you have no discretionary funds to deposit into it. And even if you manage to save five grand or ten grand in an HSA, that could all get wiped out in one hospital visit for you or a family member. Then you are back to square zero again.

Even if you can supplement your HSA with affordable health insurance, you will be eating away at money that you should be investing for your retirement or your kids' college tuition. Only the top 3-5% of Americans can save enough for retirement, college AND their own out-of-pocket medical expenses. Therefore, the tax benefits of HSA's only help those people. Please call your Congressperson to protest this. And share the information to everyone you know.